Dubai & Abu Dhabi # 5: Day 3 Part 1 – Deira and Dubai Museum

Exploring old Dubai and its history was the plan in the first half of the day. We took a short taxi ride to Bur Dubai station and then took Abra ride @ AED 1 per person to Deira Old Souk station.

Spice Souk

Across the road from the Deira Old Souk Station are the Spice Souk and Old Souk. Next to them is the Gold Souk which is a short 5-10 mins walk from there. Enroute we spent some time to buy some souvenirs.

The dazzling display of gold ornaments across the street is heaven for gold lovers. For us, it was a mere checklist item and we were out from the Gold Souk in about 20 mins.

Gold Ring weighing 64 Kgs.

Consider visiting Gold Souk only if you are fascinated by gold ornaments and design or planning to buy gold.

While planning for the trip I came across a blog post that suggested buying customized sand-art bottles from Dubai. We absolutely wanted to have it and decided to find a sand-artist who, according to the blog sat on the streets between Spice Souk and Gold Souk.

That lead us to discover quaint streets of Old Souk and Spice Souk. In the Old Souk one can shop for anything ranging from daily household items to accessories to stationaries to toys and knick-knacks at cheaper than mall rates.

After some searching, we finally found an Egyptian sand-artist in the Spice Souk who can create custom sand-art bottles.

Bargaining is the norm in Souks. We got this sand-art created for AED 60.

Then we took return Abra ride and walked approx half a KM to Dubai Museum which is built on the premises of the historic Al-Fahidi Fort.

The museum showcases the life of early settlers of Dubai and how Dubai evolved from a fishing hamlet to a trading port to a business hub to a well planned modern city and tourist destination.

Dubai Museum is a must visit if you are curious about how Dubai has evolved over time.